In response to your coverage of HR being an unhappy profession (Personnel Today, 14 June), having worked in HR for more than 15 years, I am certainly at my most content now having found a company which values my contribution and also matches my values and cultural requirements.
There tends to be an assumption that an HR person can fit into any organisation and, although the skills are transferable, the culture is the key to job satisfaction.
Your report also comments on ‘major life events’ and HR not being able to deal with them well.
I have observed that this can be the case and I wonder whether it is because HR professionals deal with people issues all day and therefore switch off when they go home. In other areas of the business, everyone can come and talk to HR if they have concerns, but who does HR have to talk to?
Even at home, work-related issues can rarely be talked about as they are generally confidential in nature. So unless you have a supportive peer group or significant other, HR can sometimes be isolating.
Coupled with the expectation that you will always be the strong, contained and problem-solving party, being an HR professional can be a difficult role to fulfil.
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The solution? Networking and talking. After all, we are only human.
Sara Smith
Personnel manager
EDO MBM Technology
